• November 8, 2018
• ABM, Demand Generation, Intent Data

New Lessons on Lead Gen, ABM & GDPR from EMEA Priority Engine User Group

In our most recent quarterly peer roundtable in Europe, Priority Engine™ users once again shared their approaches to using intent data to fuel their marketing and sales goals. To a marketer, TechTarget’s Priority Engine presents an array of potential use cases which can often be overwhelming; so, there’s nothing better than having the opportunity to listen and discuss strategy, tactics and solutions with others who are generating success from the SaaS-based platform.

The objective of our peer roundtable is simple: bring marketers together to connect with their peers and exchange insight on their digital strategies, successes and challenges—as well as present the use cases from which current clients are driving success.

Real intent data as a lead & revenue generating tool

In this roundtable, we focused on a use case increasingly popular with our EMEA clients: using Priority Engine as a lead and revenue-generating tool. While most of our partners view this use case as directly connected to their sales organization, it can also be used to generate leads for channel partners.

We presented case studies of two current clients who use Priority Engine strictly for lead and revenue generation, albeit with a different target: One client, a global cloud vendor, focuses on lead/revenue generation from their ABM list. The other client, a global enterprise storage vendor, is using Priority Engine to generate leads for their channel partners. Despite the different audience target, both use cases had similar execution tactics.

The key success factors shared by these clients may seem obvious, but are often overlooked!

Clear goals

Whether it is to generate 20:1 ROI or generate 30 BANT leads for 5 partners, both these clients have a specific and measurable goal to reach.

Internal stakeholder buy-in

In both cases, the marketers needed buy-in from internal stakeholders (one from sales; the other from the channel partners). Success matters more when your internal stakeholders care—so make them care by educating them.

Streamlined workflow

By evaluating current processes and investigating how they could track results, both clients had a carefully defined workflow based on their particular organizational landscape. Both clients’ workflows had similarities:

• Priority Engine prospects export directly to internal entities who manage outreach (both clients used telemarketing agencies)
• Telemarketing agencies have been trained to use Priority Engine for more effective lead outreach
• Export files are customized to streamline the uploading of contacts into systems and mitigate logistical delays
• Defined tracking approaches are used in internal systems—tracking by campaign name/code

Communication is key

Both clients effectively inform their internal stakeholders of progress against their KPIs. In both cases, the marketers set weekly meetings with their stakeholders to review the campaign, discuss activity/results, and identify gaps in their workflow—whether in sales outreach, gaps in data alignment (that they could adjust within Priority Engine), or gaps in results (that they could adjust through sales training).

Both clients have enjoyed success; within 5 months of running the ABM-focused revenue-generating approach, the client reported over 100 strong leads and $1 million in closed revenue. The client focused on channel enablement surpassed their goal of generating 30 highly qualified leads and also identified 70+ nurture leads that they can convert to pipeline in the future. According to the telemarketing agency tasked to generate the partner leads, “Priority Engine is much warmer data, and it is generating results that are 30% better than cold call lists we use.”

Sourcing qualified ABM contacts for your BDR teams

ABM is one of the top use cases executed against by our clients and it’s easy to see why: Priority Engine easily helps identify new and relevant contacts on target account lists. For the Head of Digital Marketing of a major enterprise cloud data management platform, this was her main use case.

Much like the clients mentioned earlier, this marketer has a workflow that drives efficiency and consistency within her organizational setup:

• She set up Priority Engine to find which of her target accounts are currently active on specific topics in their technology segment
• New contacts from her target accounts are integrated into a specific nurturing email feed
• Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) from the nurture feed are assigned to an internal telemarketing team in charge of outreach and lead monitoring

For this marketer, “Priority Engine provides access to contacts and data that we do not yet know, allowing us to influence those contacts earlier in the search cycle.” The key to success lies in the close communication with the BDR team in order to best fit their needs and adjust the campaigns according to their feedback.

GDPR: It continues to be on everyone’s mind

Not surprisingly, GDPR sparked a lively discussion among the roundtable attendees. Since GDPR, contact acquisition, nurturing, and data marketing are being scrutinized by marketers and their organizations. As a result, beyond the operational and strategic discussions, there are concerns about data protection and GDPR compliance.

Byrony Seifert, our VP of Marketing and Product Delivery, EMEA, shared key questions to ask B2B marketing data providers. If your data providers can’t clearly answer these questions, then it may be time to re-evaluate.

Key Questions to Ask Your Data Partners

1.  What is the source of the lead or data provided?  (If they can’t tell you the source, how can you trust it?)
2. (If they don’t own the source) How can they demonstrate each partner in their supply chain is GDPR compliant?  And can you filter out specific partners who are not?
3. How is each partner demonstrating “consent” and are they able to provide it if the user requests it?
4. How are they providing these users the opportunity to opt-out from both the email and the database?

TechTarget’s  100% opt-in model for data sourcing positions us as a strong partner in the era of GDPR. According to the recently-published  Forrester Wave: B2B Marketing Data Providers, Q3 2018, the “opt-in model for data sourcing is a strong differentiator for TechTarget, especially in the current climate of increasing data privacy requirements.” In the same report, one customer reference said this opt-in model was “critical because of its ‘conservative’ legal department’s interpretation of GDPR.” We’ve written many resources on this subject, which you can find here.

The next Priority Engine roundtable will be held in London in early December. If you have any questions or are interested in attending this or any upcoming roundtables,please email me.

ABM, Account-Based Marketing, B2B marketing, b2b purchase intent data, behavioral data, data privacy, demand generation, GDPR, lead generation, Priority Engine, Priority Engine User Group, purchase intent insight, revenue generation